Wednesday, 5 December 2012

It’s still voluntary; not free

Written by Rachel Quinn, Chief Executive, One East Midlands

Two years ago I
published a blog entitled ‘It’s voluntary,
not free!’

In recent months
I have been reminded that issues have changed very little and that members have
valued my definition of ‘voluntary sector’ in making local challenge. We are
therefore republishing this blog for all to use….

I have continued
to be disappointed, whilst sitting in a variety of public arenas, still listening
to embeddedmisunderstandings of the
meaning of ‘voluntary sector’ and volunteering.

I thought it
would be helpful to share my own interpretation for all to use – I’m sure there
are others out there but here goes….

The crux of the
matter is ‘It’s all about governance!’

Governance in the
private sector is motivated by the
generation of wealth and profit through the sale of goods and services. Legal
structures therefore enable trading to take place, governed by business
directors and/or executive staffing with responsibility for ensuring that the
business remains profitable and solvent. These roles are remunerated and often
directly linked to the financial success of the business.

The public sector is often referred to as
the ‘statutory sector’ as it is created out of statute. The public sector role
is defined by government to deliver public services that meet the needs of the
population at the time. From a governance perspective this requires them to be
publicly accountable by direct linkage to democratically elected members at
either local or national level (or in the case of linked agencies or QUANGOs
they are accountable to these democratic structures). The public sector is
borne from our democratic structure and therefore governed and responsible to
it.

So where does the
voluntary sector sit…

The voluntary sector is borne out of
passion, commitment and the autonomy of people to make a positive change or
address a problem in society. The governance of the sector is therefore
undertaken by volunteers (often trustees) who undertake their role, not for
financial reward or out of public duty but to achieve positive impact for their
beneficiaries. How the voluntary governors choose to achieve their goals is
very much up to them – and can often involve (and indeed require) the
generation of income and employment of paid staff. As a result this means that
voluntary organisations are simply steered not by the motivation of financial
reward or out of a public duty but merely a drive to make a change for the
better – they are not free and never will be.